Suction operated cleaning brush



Jan 15, 1957 v.- M. COSENTINQ v2,777,152

SUCTION OPERATED CLEANING BRUSH Filed July zo, 1951 un wan-um INVENTOR K 75040 #ml ATTORNEYQ United States Patent O SUCTION OPERA'IED CLEANING BRUSH v Victor M. Cosentino, Stamford, Conn. Application July 20, 1951, Serial No. 237,802

2 Claims. (Clr 15-38I) This invention is a suction operated device particularly adapted for cleaning Venetian blinds, but capable of other uses.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a rotary brush, driven by a particular type of air driven wheel, which will rotate the brush at a suicient speed and with suicient power to loosen any adhering dirt, the dirt being carried away into the interior of the brush and into the dust bag of the vacuum cleaner. In other words, the cleaner of this invention may be regarded as an attachment to be used with an ordinary vacuum cleaner.

More particularly, the cleaner of the present invention comprises two inter-connected casings, or housings, in which housings is journaled a rotary shaft, which shaft carries a rotary brush and an air driven wheel for rotating the brush.

The air driven wheel of the present invention comprises angled blades, which have their long axes parallel to the shaft yof the wheel, and which are placed a substantial distance from the shaft, such placement of the blades as far as possible from the shaft giving the blades the maximum torque creating leverage for turning the shaft so that it will be driven at suitable speed and with suitable power for loosening dirt adhering to the blind or other object being cleaned.

The housing for the air driven wheel just described is provided with a suction passage positioned at one side of the housing for the air wheel, the air, plus any entrained dirt, after passing through the air driven wheel and the suction passage, passing into an attached pipe which is adapted to be connected to the usual vacuum cleaner, the suction exerted by the vacuum cleaner drawing air past the brush into the air driven wheel for rotating it, the air then passing radially outwardly between the blades, through the suction passage, to the vacuum cleaner.

The invention will be described in more detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal cross section through the cleaner of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig.' 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the air driven wheel and the brush operated thereby.

Referring now to these drawings, lthe attachment comprises a wheel housing, indicated generally at 2, having an end well 4 and a side wall 6. The housing 8 for the brush comprises an end wall 10, threadably engaged with the side wall 6, a side wall 11 and an end wall 12 at the the other end.

A shaft 14, including collars 15a and 15b, is journaled in the housings by roller bearing assembly 16 in the wall 4, and the roller bearing assembly 18 in the wall 12. The shaft 14 includes a portion 20 positioned to anchor bristles 22, forming a brush, the bristles gradually increasing in length from the ycenter of the brush outwardly toward 2 either end, so as to give a concave brushing surface for conforming to the curvature of a Venetian blind.

The air driven wheel, indicated generally at 24, which is an important feature of the present invention, comprises an imperforate back plate 26 secured to collar 28, in turn secured to collar 15a of shaft 14 by set screw 30. Mounted between rim portions 32 and 34 of the wheel 24 is a series of angular blades 36. These blades 36 have their long axes parallel to the axis of shaft 1-4 and a positioned at a maximum distance from the axis of shaft 14, so that each blade thereby exerts a maximum turning force of the shaft, thereby representing a distinct improvement over radially extending blades.

The wall 6 of the wheel housing is provided with a suction passage 38, ont of which air and entrained dust, after passing through the blades of the wheel, passes radially outwardly through passage 3S into a pipe 40, which is intended to be connected to the suction pipe of any usual vacuum cleaner. The suction pipe 4t) may conveniently be made long enough to serve as a handle. 4

The pipe 40 is secured to the wall 6 of the wheel housing in any convenient manner, as by flanges 42, engaging the pipe 40, these flanges being secured to wall 6 by set screws 44.

A washer 46 of felt, or the like, is placed between the flange members 42 and pipe 40 for providing an air-'tight connection. Such screws 48 serve to secure the washer in place.

The side wall 11 of the housing 8 for the brush is provided with an arcuate opening 50 the edges of which are concave and shaped to t the -curvature of a Venetian blind. This opening Si) exposes the bristles 22 suiiiciently so that the bristles will contact the curved surface of the Venetian blind. A felt edging 52 forms a border around opening 50 to provide a seal to prevent scratching the Venetian blind.

To summarize the operation, when suction is applied to the pipe 40, the air is drawn in through the opening 50, passes radially outwardly through the blades 36, thereby lrotating the wheel 24 and the brush 22, thereby disloding the dirt, which is carried away to the vacuum cleaner in the usual way. The particular air driven assembly, although small and compact, nevertheless, due to the use of the particular type of driving wheel shown, exerts a strong rotating force on the bristles so that the brush is driven at a good rate of speed, even if pressed downwardly ontoy the Venetian blind with a good 4deal of force. This enables the brush to clean the Venetian blind efficiently, even though it is covered with a thick, strongly adherent, layer of dirt and dust.

While the invention has been described in some detail, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise details shown, but may be carried out in other ways.

I claim as my invention:

1.7A suction operated cleaning brush for Venetian blinds, comprising an enlarged wheel housing having a central axis, and a substantially smaller elongated brush housing joined to the wheel housing with its longitudinal axis in line with the axis of the wheel housing, said housf ings being connected to form an air passageway between them, each of sai-d housingsrincluding a transversely extending end wall substantially perpendicular to the axes of said housings, a longitudinally extending rotatable shaft having lits ends journaled in said end walls, an air operated Wheel carried by said shaft and positioned in said wheel housing, said air Wheel comprising a transverse back plate positioned close to and adjacent said end wall of the wheel housing, and further comprising spaced rims supported 'by said back plate, and further comprising a plurality of narrow angled blades extending across and supported entirely by said rims, said blades having their Patented Jan. 15, 1957 blades and communicating directly with said unobstructed o interior of the Wheel, a rotatable brush carried by said shaft and positioned in said brush housing, an air exit pipe secured to said wheel housing and in registry with said air exit opening, said elongated, smaller brush housing being of a size to fit between the slats of Venetian blinds and being provided with a longitudinally extending opening located `adjacent said rotatable brush.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein the edges of said longitudinal opening in the brush housing eXtend insu-tooth longitudinal curves toward the interior yof the brush housing to dene a concave opening adapted to t the convex side of a Venetian blind.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Neal June 27, 1893 Westman July 11, 1899 Foster et al Feb. 14, 1911 Wolf July 20, 1915 Knapp July 10, 1923 Nulsen Dec. 27, 1927 Freed Aug. 15, 1933 Farrell June 17, 1941 Kryl June 7, 1949 Olsen -Q July 13, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Dec. 16, 1935 

